feeding baby....

hthomas02

why the hell did I not write this stuff down the first TWO times I did this???

does anyone remember how long they are supposed to eat each "stage" of food before moving on to the next?

so after Kellen got sick, he would not eat food for 3 weeks!  gah!  he is finally eating again and he is eating like a maniac.  I moved him up to stage 2 because the tubs are bigger, but how long should he eat stage 2 before moving on to stage 3?  and if I'm correct the difference between stage 2 and stage 3 is consistency right?  stage 3 is thicker and includes meats?  right now he is eating 2 tubs and a bowl of oatmeal at each meal.  he is crazy hungry!

K&P414

I don't think it's really a rule of a certain time period before you move to stage 3, I think it's once you feel like he can handle the texture/consistency.  I never really did stage 3, once she was cool with stage 2 we did mostly all table food.

maykat

I'm thinking we did stage 3 after we had conquered cheerios and baby could pick up a small cheerio or pee with his/her fingers.  Not sure if the pedi recommended this or not?

After we finished most of the stage 1 foods, we went right to stage 2.   

 

smynings_bride

K&P414:

I don't think it's really a rule of a certain time period before you move to stage 3, I think it's once you feel like he can handle the texture/consistency.  I never really did stage 3, once she was cool with stage 2 we did mostly all table food.

This.  I started Harlie on puffs at around 7-8 months and then peeled grapes and gradually added in more finger foods--tofu chunks, peas, avocado, well cooked pasta etc.  I never fed her stage 3 foods because it was easier for her to feed herself at that point.

frlcb

Lila is so not into purees, but we keep trying, and at 6 months we will start finger foods. I think there is no set time, if you think he is ready to move on try him!

Louise06

We skipped the Stage 3 foods and went straight to table foods. We basically started feeding him whatever we were eating.

KT&John

We are still doing the Stage 2 foods. Have you tried the Happy Tots pouches? They are organic and have some yummy combinations. They are a little more expensive but they make a bigger size one..over 4 ounces. Trevor loves the green beans, peas, pears combo. He eats one of the big pouches for dinner and half of the 3.5 ounce one mixed with oatmeal for breakfast.

I am also giving him Cheerios at least once a day and he still hasn't quite gotten the hang of reliably getting them in his mouth. If he does this soon we will just move to small bits of table food. I believe I skipped Stage 3 with Cadence as well, but like you, I have a hard time remembering

slwprincess

I just moved Sophie up to Stage 3s, but after feeding her a couple of jars and seeing the consistency, we could have made this move MONTHS ago.  I mean, I have always mixed her purees in with cereal and it's pretty thick and she does fine.  These Stage 3's are runnier than that.  I'd move on up if I were you.  And don't forget about the cereal stretching trick- I mix almost all of her foods- fruit/veggie/whatever with oatmeal cereal.  Makes it go a lot farther.

smynings_bride

maykat:

I'm thinking we did stage 3 after we had conquered cheerios and baby could pick up a small cheerio or pee with his/her fingers.  Not sure if the pedi recommended this or not?

After we finished most of the stage 1 foods, we went right to stage 2.   

 

Your post reminded me that my pedi said that they are ready for finger foods that don't dissolve once they can pinch the food with the thumb and one finger because she said this coincides with their development of their gag reflex

lindzed

Heather, doesn't totally answer your question, but I've started making Ansley some (she just turned 4 months but already loves real food) of the really easy things myself.  Its so much cheaper and some things are really easy.  I buy the stuff that's not easy like peas (you have to strain them) or bannans (they come out sticky). 

Just a few quick suggestions are sweat potatos  (I bake it, peel the skin off,  put in food processor, and add a little apple juice to get it the right consistancy).  You then stick it in freezer trays until solid and can pop it out into a plastic bag in the fridge and it stays good for around a month.  This is super easy and makes a ton.  When I'm ready to serve it I pop out a few pieces (each ice cube size is about an ounce) and stick it in the microwave.

I've also done carrots (just buy frozen and steam, food processor, and add a little water) and freeze.

You can even do meat this way, but we haven't gotten that far yet.  My SIL does everything this way and convinced me it was easy.  I have to say she was right. 

 I was totally not a baby food maker with baby #1, but I swear its super expensive already to feed ansley (she goes through 2 small containers at each meal already).